DI has documented statements by Ro Khanna on 2026 Midterm Elections, Antisemitism, and Artificial Intelligence, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: U.S. representative from California
Condemned
Statement summary
Ro Khanna says Israeli settlers beat Levine and operate with impunity, and calls for cutting off aid to Israel that is used to fund settler activity and stopping the sales of these weapons.
“They operate with impunity. We need to cut off aid to Israel that is used to fund settler activity, and stop the sales of these weapons.”
The reference point is the October 16, 2026 beating of Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine near Abu Falah, which she and other witnesses attributed to masked Israeli settlers. Khanna says settlers beat Levine and operate with impunity and calls for cutting off aid used to fund settler activity, which condemns the attack.
Role at the time: U.S. representative for California's 17th Congressional District
Condemned
Statement summary
Khanna called Hegseth unfit and said that when Congress returns, he and other members will force a vote to pass Massie's impeachment resolution and remove Hegseth.
“Hegseth is unfit. The day Congress is back, we will force a vote to pass @RepThomasMassie’s impeachment resolution and remove him.”
The question in this case is whether the House should impeach Hegseth. Khanna calls him unfit and commits to forcing a vote to pass Massie's impeachment resolution.
Role at the time: U.S. representative from California
Condemned
Statement summary
Khanna said the more the White House wants to put Trump on television, the happier he is, called it an ethics violation, and advised the White House to spend as much as it wants putting Trump on television.
“The more they want to put President Trump on television, the happier I am. Obviously, it's an ethics violation. But here's my advice, go spend as much money as you want putting Donald Trump on T.V.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Ro Khanna on publicly funded Trump ads, CNN, September 28, 2026 · CNNOpening ads segment: Ro Khanna's recorded remarks before David Urban's interview
Why we used this label
The conduct under scrutiny is federal payment for Trump-promoting ads. Khanna calls the taxpayer-funded ads an ethics violation, which rejects the use of public money, and says he welcomes their political effect. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional; it does not fit because welcoming the ads' political effect does not defend the payment.
Role at the time: U.S. Representative for California, on his official Threads account
Condemned
Statement summary
On Threads, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said the shooting of Garces Perez "demands a full investigation," wrote that "no one should be shot in the back and denied urgent medical care," and called to "abolish ICE" and "prosecute rogue agents."
“ICE shot a DoorDash driver in the back in Austin. Instead of taking him to the hospital, they carted him off to a detention center with the bullet still in his back.
No one should be shot in the back and denied urgent medical care.
The shooting of Venezuelan delivery driver Wilber Garcés Pérez by ICE in Austin demands a full investigation.
Abolish ICE. Prosecute rogue agents.”
Relative to whether ICE's use of force against Wilber Rafael Garces Perez should be condemned or condoned, Khanna directly denounces the shooting and the agency's post-shooting handling of him, and calls for both an investigation and the prosecution of the officers involved, a clear condemnation.
Role at the time: United States representative for California’s 17th congressional district
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Khanna called for a U.S.–China international agreement on AI safeguards, including a ban on recursively self-improving systems and controls against AI misuse in biological or nuclear weapons.
“The first ask is of Trump and Xi Jinping to come up with an international agreement. ... [B]anning any self-improving AI, recursive self-improving AI.”
Open the original interview (opens in a new tab)Ro Khanna calls for an international ban on self-improving AIRo Khanna interview: response beginning “The first ask is of Trump and Xi Jinping...” and passage calling for “banning any self-improving AI, recursive self-improving AI.”
Why we used this label
Khanna endorsed stronger safeguards by proposing an international agreement that would prohibit recursively self-improving systems and add limits on misuse.
Role at the time: U.S. Representative, California 17th district
Condemned
Statement summary
Ro Khanna voted Yea on H.Con.Res. 93, the House resolution directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.
“On Agreeing to the Resolution: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.”
A yea vote supported directing the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran, opposing continued U.S. involvement in the war without congressional authorization.
Role at the time: U.S. Representative for California's 17th congressional district, posting on his verified X account
Condemned
Statement summary
Responding to Dario Amodei's announcement of his essay on pacing frontier AI development and Anthropic's commitment to give third-party evaluators permanent employee-level access, Rep. Ro Khanna said the proposal does not go nearly far enough. He called for pausing recursive self-improving AI and for criminal and civil liability for AI that causes damage, said technology executives use opaque jargon to keep the public in the dark, and asked Amodei to state his probability-of-doom estimate. His characterisation of industry leaders is his own.
“The tech lords act like priests who know Latin & keep the rest of us in the dark. Get beyond the opaque jargon and its pretty straightforward. Amodei doesn't go nearly far enough. We must pause recursive self improving AI. We must have criminal and civil liability for AI that damages us. What is your P(doom), probability of doom, number Dario?”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Ro Khanna: "Amodei doesn't go nearly far enough"Post text, with an attached 1:11 video, quote-posting Dario Amodei's September 12 announcement of his essay "We Must Pace the Frontier."
Why we used this label
Khanna says Amodei's voluntary steps do not go far enough and calls for a pause and enforceable liability. He criticizes the adequacy of company-led safeguards.
Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was beaten during an attack on olive harvesters near Abu Falah on October 16. Witnesses blamed masked settlers. Netanyahu's office called the facts unclear, and the Post's editor said key facts are not in dispute.
The White House calls its Trump-featuring television spots public service announcements and paid for them with taxpayer money. Critics in both parties object, and on October 5 Trump said he would pay with his own and MAGA Inc. money.
An ICE officer shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan DoorDash driver, in Austin on September 20. He says he was trying to pull over; prosecutors, who charged him with assaulting an officer, say he drove off. The dispute is whether the shooting was justified.
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, citing no active shooting. President Trump defended the description; Sanders, Schumer and Massie criticized it, and Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the fighting aggression, not war.
Trump backs company controls and outside audits for frontier AI. Critics want enforceable federal safeguards, and the White House now calls incident reporting mandatory without identifying enforcement mechanisms or penalties.
Laura Loomer used “ghetto” and a gendered slur for Angie Nixon and four other Black women, then defended the wording as describing Nixon’s conduct, race, and ideology. Critics across parties called the remarks racist, sexist, degrading, offensive, or vile.
Larry Klayman sued Hasan Piker over his August 20 remarks about American Jews, seeking more than $150 million. Piker had earlier disputed the threatening interpretation.
Crockett endorsed Talarico after their primary but says she will campaign for down-ballot Democrats. Khanna wants her on Talarico's trail; Talarico says her work already helps. Should she join his campaign?
An issue tracker recording where members of Congress and 2026 midterm candidates stand on the unauthorized Iran war, based on their votes on war-powers resolutions, campaign statements, and public remarks.
Read Hegseth impeachment filings on military operations, oversight and Signal, the inspector general's findings, and his response to the claim he was 'texting war plans.'
